GOOD CAUSE: Jasmine Danby, centre, from Parkinson’s UK, with members of Rokeby Farmers’ Ball committee. From the left: Rob Walton, Andrew Watson, chairman Dougie Anderson, John Hare and Jonathan Wallis
GOOD CAUSE: Jasmine Danby, centre, from Parkinson’s UK, with members of Rokeby Farmers’ Ball committee. From the left: Rob Walton, Andrew Watson, chairman Dougie Anderson, John Hare and Jonathan Wallis

THE annual Rokeby Farmers’ Ball, held at the Morritt Arms Hotel earlier this year, has been hailed a huge success.

The ball, which has been organised for the past 73 years, started as a dinner dance for farmers who worked on the Rokeby Estate.

However, the event has grown substantially over the years with guests from all over the region vying for tickets.

Although primarily a social event for the past three years the ball has also raised vital funds for various charities.

This year the annual get-together raised £2,000 and the committee decided to donate it to Parkinson’s UK, as their chairman Dougie Anderson suffers from the neurological condition.

Jasmine Danby, from Parkinson’s UK, accepted the cheque from members of the committee and hopes the money raised will help fund research into the disease, for which there is currently no cure.